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Letters, 3/26: Political neutrality impossible

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Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008 - 12:28:26 pm CDT

I’m writing in response to the Sunday stories on the perceived liberal bias of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s teaching faculty and complaints from some conservative students that their voices are silenced in the classroom. Though tallying the political affiliations of UNL faculty may be newsworthy, it is my sincere hope that articles like these serve to provoke real, sustained dialogue on the university campus and in our community. 

As a graduate student and an instructor in the Departments of English and Women’s and Gender Studies, I am a passionate advocate of academic freedom. It is healthy for members of an intellectual community to question the biases present in their classrooms; as students and teachers, we cannot continue to learn if we are not aware of the rhetoric that surrounds us. 

In continuing to think about the politics of our classrooms, I hope we will remember that purely neutral spaces are not possible. Just consider the construction of a course syllabus: What an instructor chooses to assign to his or her students is a political act. An instructor must make choices about what is going to be read, valued and discussed in the course. We cannot pretend that these choices of inclusion and exclusion are not political. These choices happen even before students arrive to class on the first day of the semester, each carrying his or her own experiences, values and biases.  

As a teacher, I work to make my pedagogical choices visible to my students, and the political nature of education as well as my students’ educational experiences are a part of our dialogue. For students as well as teachers, the practice of listening to the voices and perspectives of others is the very foundation of education. 

Amber Harris Leichner, Lincoln

Support for class assessment

I am responding to the recent editorial “Ed Department should come in from cold”.

I am a public school special-education teacher, and although I have not been as immersed in STARS as Nebraska’s classroom teachers, I fully support this assessment system. It is instruction-driven, teacher-designed and helps to maintain all-important local control of district public schools.

Classroom teachers have spent a great deal of time and effort designing district assessments, trying them out in their classrooms, looking at the validity of the assessments and then fine-tuning them as needed. This is a process that is not finished, and classroom instruction and assessment has continued to improve. 

Education Commissioner Doug Christensen is unfailing in his support and belief that Nebraska’s public school classroom teachers, curriculum coordinators, administrators and staff developers are highly qualified professionals dedicated to providing quality educational experiences for Nebraska’s students. Others in the Department of Education, as well as Sens. Ben Nelson and Chuck Hagel, have also shown Nebraska educators that they are valued for their knowledge and experience in educating Nebraska’s children. 

Dr. Chris W. Gallagher of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has written an excellent book entitled “Reclaiming Assessment: A Better Alternative to the Accountability Agenda.” This book describes Nebraska’s journey with the School-based, Teacher-led Assessment Reporting System. I would advise anyone who is inclined to criticize Doug Christensen or STARS to first read this book “for the good of the students.”

Marcia Ough, Hampton

Governor disappoints union

This letter is in response to the article “Senators slam governor, HHS over Beatrice woes”. Nebraska members of the Teamsters Local 554 were disappointed  by Gov. Dave Heineman’s recent characterization of Sen. Danielle Nantkes’ priority bill, LB235, as a bill rewarding Hollywood film executives.

Sen. Nantkes deserves thanks from all Nebraskans for offering a targeted and honest economic development measure that would benefit not only our members but incredibly gifted, creative Nebraskans. Our members have received good wages when major films are filmed in Nebraska. We, along with the Nebraska tourism industry, support LB235 and believe it is a significant economic development opportunity that Nebraska should embrace.

Teamsters Local 554 also represents hard-working committed individuals that are employed in community-based developmental disability programs. Since the governor’s criticism to Sen. Nantkes was in reaction to legislative debate regarding his administration’s failure to pass a federal investigation into the operation of the Beatrice State Developmental Center, we find it disappointing that last year the governor vetoed essential money that would have paid decent wages to those Nebraskans working for the developmentally disabled in community programs.

Ironically, these are the same programs that the governor intends to use to somehow solve the Beatrice center’s problem by discharging 100 developmentally disabled to community-based programs that do not pay an adequate wage for the services they deliver.

Now, that’s disappointing.

Jim Sheard, Omaha, Teamsters Local 554

Time to tone down rhetoric

Voters will have a really historic choice to make in the next election. While I think the Clintons have served the country well, I think Barack Obama has the intelligence and eloquence to make a real change in the way that America interacts with the rest of the world.

It is time for confrontation to yield to diplomacy. Voters will have a clear choice as to whether the war in Iraq drags on, or whether we start to cooperate with the rest of the world to find a diplomatic solution to the mess that we have created.

America must stop sticking its nose in every other country’s business. We must not be the world’s police force. It is time to tone down the abusive rhetoric and put the world on the path to peace.

Robert D. Thomson, Lincoln


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LDH wrote on March 26, 2008 5:35 am:
" To Ms Leichner, the collection of political preferences of the faculty at UNL is a non-event because it is important to have a dialogue on "differences". The very point of the article and the data collection was that dialogue is impossible when only one viewpoint is espoused or condoned. Professors have the power of academic success or failure over students , even the danger of disapproval is sufficient to inhibit disagreement. It seem quite apparent to any who read her letter that she is willingly unaware of the situation.But then,those on the left are often unaware that there might even be a viewpoint different from their own. By the way, as a professor who retired from a business career, before bringing that experience to the classroom, I would also comment that any course that ends in the word"studies" isn't a useful endeavor to any one who actually hopes to earn a living in the real world outside the shelter of the public purse in a government school. "

 Comman Sense wrote on March 26, 2008 6:33 am:
" I wish it was that easy Amber. As a non-traditional college student and quite older than my fellow classmates it is difficult to attend any socialolgy or poly sci class and not be overwhelmed by the bias required. As a good reader of people, I notice daily the conformity of the class and the pleased look of the instructor at the bobble head response to any left leaning statement. Now I take it upon myself to contest the views based on my right leanings and the look of contempt at questioning the ideas presented are comical. This also has an effect on the class as they begin to question what they hear and the level of conversation and debate will rise, and the bobble head response will cease, for a moment. Until the fear of the grade pen overwhelms and the institutionalization of the student returns. Being an academic is fine, the trick is actually applying the concepts and then having them actually work in the real world. It is a form of power being the academic "big dog" instead of just a powerless cog in the big machine in real life, and the abuse used by some in these academic positions is readily visable daily in the classroom. The old saying of "Those who cannot do, teach" is true in many educators and is a shame in todays diverse world. "

 Gerard Harbison wrote on March 26, 2008 7:00 am:
" So, Amber, when I choose to include protein folding rather than DNA folding in my thermodynamics class, is that a political act? No, of course it isn't. And choices wouldn't be political in English, either, if some of the English faculty would teach their subject rather than some half-boiled version of leftist identity politics.

You're entitled to your political views. What I can't understand is why parents and students would pay good money to give you a soapbox for them three times a week. "

 CS wrote on March 26, 2008 7:55 am:
" Had such a bill existed 10 years ago, a composer that is doing quite well on projects in LA for movies and other medias could have stayed here after graduating from HC instead of having to move half way across the country just to find interest in his work. But hey, if NE wants to keep the mentality and image of a an 'oh shucks' farm state they have only themselves to blame. "

 Lance Krueger wrote on March 26, 2008 8:00 am:
" I need to respond to Amber Harris Leichners letter on Wed. 3/26/08. She is talking about the political neutrality of uninversity professors. It is classic case of Liberal Double speak. Of course the choices Profs. make are based on their own views, that cannot be helped. What she did not address was the concerns, perceived or otherwise, of Conservative students who felt they could not speak up because their views were different than the Profs. Here is the Liberal speak part of her letter "For students as well as teachers, the practice of listening to the voices and perspectives of others is the very foundation of education." Of course it is, but the Prof. may listen to the student and disagree and slightly alter his or her grade because of the bias of the Prof.
These liberals live in a "if only...." world.
If only we all got along..., if only we agreed....., if only.....
They do not live in the reality of what is actually going on in the classroom, or the world for that matter.
And as the LJS article last week on this subject, why is it that a vast majority of University Profs are registered Democrats?? And I would assume liberal.
Maybe the only place they can be heard, or the only place anyone will listen to them, and their opinion actually carry any weight is in the classroom.
Captive audience.
Lance S Krueger "

 9783 wrote on March 26, 2008 8:20 am:
" Obama's true character and objectives have finally started to surface. He is not a uniter, he is a divider. He will bring the same warmed over liberal agenda as Hillary.

Unfortunately, we are stuck with three poor choices for Prez. "

 Jody P. wrote on March 26, 2008 8:46 am:
" I don't wish to rain on Mr. Thomson's canonization parade for Obama, but I find myself wondering exactly how Obama is going to bring peace to the whole wide world. If Mr. Thomson assumes that everyone in the world will bow down to Obama and instantly obey his every wish, then I can see how that would result in a peaceful world. But suppose - just suppose - that everyone in the world DOESN'T bow down to a President Obama. What then? As of this moment, Hillary Clinton and most Republicans do not seem to believe that Obama really is a perfect being, and they openly disagree with him and even go so far as to criticize him (!!!). And what do we have? The most fractious venomous partisan political warfare that I have ever witnessed. So if Obama is elected, and one makes the hypothetical assumption that many people might strongly disagree with him, how exactly is he going to bring peace to American politics, let alone the entire world? Does he have some magic powers of peace that he is waiting to deploy until after he takes office? "

 Big Chief wrote on March 26, 2008 9:46 am:
" If you want to change a country start with the educational system. The Socialists, Communists & Pacifists realized this 70 years ago.

LDH has it exactly right when he says," I would also comment that any course that ends in the word"studies" isn't a useful endeavor to any one who actually hopes to earn a living in the real world outside the shelter of the public purse in a government school. "
"

 Matt M wrote on March 26, 2008 10:04 am:
"

As for the rest of these comments, I'm really sorry that none of you have any clue as to what 'liberal' actually means. The indignation I read here is embarrassing. Basically I see a lot of comments that translate to, 'I don't want no librul teachin' my youngins. They need to be taught conservative values only.' So, bias seems to be okay, as long as it's the right bias. Well people, having someone challenge your beliefs is part of being an adult and it's healthy as long as your mind works. I am a professed 'librul' and my politics professor once called me a republican on purpose for some of my conservative values. Why? To make me mad. To challenge me. She knew the effect it would have on me, and it made me think about why I believe the way I do. Having her challenge my beliefs made me a better person and years later i still thank her for being a challenge. If your precious little snowflakes are too fragile to take a 'liberal' professor challenging them then you might want to keep them out of school. And the real world. "

 larry wrote on March 26, 2008 10:04 am:
" Oh you poor, poor oppressed conservatives. No place for your message except The White House, Wall Street Journal, and Fox News. Meanwhile this just in - most business owners are registered Republicans. Go figure? "

 Think again wrote on March 26, 2008 11:12 am:
" Imagine having to select reading materials for an introductory course on world literature that is called "Masterpieces" or "Classics of World Literature." The decision to include authors and works that have not been hailed as "classics" for the last 200 years - which is the case for works of literature by women writers, members of ethnic minorities and working-class writers - is a political statement in that it has the potential to change students' views on what makes a "good" work of literature. Should we just teach the same old plays, novels, and poems, or should we make an attempt to reflect the actual diversity of, say, the 19th-century literary marketplace (many women writers, for instance, achieved much greater popular success than male novelists in 19th-century America) in our selection of texts?

An English instructor's choice of texts has the power to reinforce or change - be it ever so subtly - the canon. "

 Why study? wrote on March 26, 2008 11:17 am:
" LDH, Comman Sense, and Harbison are all right. Why don't we just shut UNL down and rebuild it into a vocational college. Let's just get rid of all those messy "political" classes, like history, literature, philosophy, political science, and, all those "studies" classes have to go to. Of course that would also mean that we get rid of sports, which are way too polarizing. We don't need classes that help students reflect on their past or their present. We just need "higher education" that is functional and pragmatic, education that gets you a job. After all, our democracy is running just fine with only 20% of the people college educated. Nobody stole elections. The economy is doing great. America is number one. And we are winning in Iraq. While were at it, let's just all stop thinking about anything at all. "

 ripper wrote on March 26, 2008 11:34 am:
" Okay-I understand what liberalism means. I also understand what conservatism means. I never once feared engagement with either when the playing field was based on facts first opinions second. I made it through the electives at UNL-even though I took poetry and had to wear my ROTC uniform to the class in the 60's. I was told by the professor that no matter how good of a poet I was he would never give me anything more than a C since I obviously was a war monger. Turns out I wasn't a very good poet and he in turn turned out to be more evenly balanced than he seemed as he gave a B (uniform and all). What I didn't care for however was the assumption about my beliefs because I had short hair, dressed conservatively and was polite. I had English professors who could never get over their 'god given' right to dictate stuff in class. So it was easier to just go along and get along since no constructive dialogue was ever possible. Yes I own a business (actually 3), yes I vote conservatively (not the difference between being a conservative and voting conservatively). Yes I resist whole heartedly when I hear junk like Liberals are more about the heart and soul while Conservatives are more about the mind and money. And yes I will resist to the very end, any liberal agenda that seeks to redistribute my wealth to somebody else. By the way, I give 22% of all my money to charitable causes with no strings attached. But it is where I chose to spend it, not where somebody else has deemed my money should go. So get real about political agenda's...they are seldom balanced and unfortunately in the classroom can directly effect your grade. "

 College Type wrote on March 26, 2008 11:44 am:
" Of course there is a bias in education, based on the instructors views. Academia is the last refuge of the left, and business is the last refuge of the right. Yes education has a captive audience, for in the real world the views expressed can be readily questioned without fear of retrobution, the power of the professor to radically change your life prevents questioning the required and taught bias. Educators explain to us how the world works in thier view, business makes the world work by application. Each with thier own agenda. The comment of "'I don't want no librul teachin' my youngins." shows a level of intolerance to any view that the left does not agree with. Sterotyping those not of thier belief system, degrading those they feel are below them, and now explain to me how that makes you better than those you condemn. Is this the diverse world that education is supposed to be teaching? When the Ward Churchill's can hide and continue to teach within a system claiming that they are not bias, to me there is a question of ethics. I struggle through college under the "The sky is green" therory. I will agree with whatever trash passed on as cultural, social, political education, get the grade needed to move on, and once on my way with the passing grade, tap my instructor on the shoulder and state "By the way, the sky is actually Blue" smile and continue on with life. Too many years out here in the real world to let this 4 year hiatius hinder my lifes goals and beliefs. "

 Justin wrote on March 26, 2008 11:56 am:
" As a senior poli sci major at UNL, I feel as though I should respond to some of these comments. Many of you are of the mistaken belief that professors stomp around the classroom professing their political beliefs and belittling those that disagree. Contrary to the ridiculous anecdote presented in the article, I have seen nothing of the sort in my 4 years at UNL (which also includes plenty of time spent in those "liberal" sociology classes). A healty dialogue exists and I have NEVER known of an instance in which a conservative student was afraid to share their beliefs. Give me a break with all of this whining about an "oppressive" liberal faculty... "

 Edited wrote on March 26, 2008 12:25 pm:
" The fact that UNL like any other major university in this country, has a majority of left leaning faculty is nothing new at all. The nature of academics more often than not attracts people with left leaning views and vice versa. Like it or not too conservatives have some pretty unintellectual voices in the national media, such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. In my college experience I would say that some professors bashed you over the head with their bias and others did not. Throughout my education I have had a great deal of respect for educators who did not share my political views, as long as they weren't arrogant and unintellectual themselves. And that is where we see problems in academia. When one's bias clouds their judgements and impairs them from being intellectual. Amber Harris Leichner is right in that the classroom is a place to discuss differences of opinion in order to stimulate dialog and your intellect. However that said I have seen many on the left in this forum launch asinine attacks against conservatives, claiming they are merely spoon fed their ideas by Rush Limbaugh or Fox News. You can just easily be a liberal who's ideas are spoon fed to them by say Noam Chomsky or Amy Goodman, as you can been a conservative who hangs on all of Sean Hannity's words. Just because the people who spoon feed you your ideas might be intellectual does not mean you are. And frankly as a Libertarian Republican thats what disappoints me most about people on the left. Just as conservatives should challenge their ideas against liberals, liberals sorely need and I mean sorely need to challenge their ideas against conservatives. Writing people off because they don't agree with you is not intellectual. Its offensive, arrogant, excessive, and dangerous. Don't we have enough of all these things in America today? "

 Tim wrote on March 26, 2008 12:52 pm:
" Studies have demonstrated that people who hold strong viewpoints on a subject tend to see even moderate reporting on that subject as biased against them. I wouldn't doubt the same thing happens in the classroom.

Here is a link to a study of media bias. It opens as a pdf, so be warned.

http://www.journalism.wisc.edu/mpi/gunther/mediabias.pdf "

 Tim wrote on March 26, 2008 12:54 pm:
" Oh, and everybody complaining about the quality of education, please check your spelling. Your credibility pretty much disappears completely when you mis-spell fairly easy words like 'common'. "

 Kristine wrote on March 26, 2008 1:34 pm:
" Well, it's evident to me, that the snarky comments about wasteful education are coming from people that did not go to college, and therefore have absolutely no idea what they're talking about. How boring to just have these opinions about everything based on nothing. The best part of college for me were the classes that encouraged debate and sharing ideas. I distinctly remember one particular guy that was homophobic. He probably would say what is being implied in these posts. The teacher didn't encourage or discourage. We're just tolerant, and won't tolerate ignorance. "

 Don wrote on March 26, 2008 2:33 pm:
" We have three poor choices for President. Oh well, I guess there is always Ralph Nader. "

 Jeorge wrote on March 26, 2008 3:52 pm:
" People! Nebraska is a lone island of conservatism. Just listen to the way people talk here about politics. Its always information from what everyone else says and seems seldom based on substance of any kind. where else are people going to get another view if not in the University. The University setting is the only window of opportunity to see a viewpoint other than conservative in this State! So what! Are we threatened by that in some way! Is this a dictatorship? "

 Mindless Robot wrote on March 26, 2008 4:07 pm:
" C'mon Republicans, it's only 4 to 6 years that these kids have in College. Once they leave, you have them the rest of their lives to grind out their spirit and crush them. "

 AWP wrote on March 26, 2008 5:19 pm:
" Ms. Harris Leichner, you are missing the point of the story. The problem with some of the faculty members is that they use their influence over the students to impose their beliefs upon them. Since those beliefs seem to coincide with yours, you see this happening and consider it to be good intellectual stimulation for the students in a learning environment. What if, however, there were 23 instructors in your field of Women's and Gender Studies and 22 of them were men? Suppose you were the only woman teaching Women's and Gender Studies classes? Would that seem like an equal balance to you? What if some of the men were Male Chauvinists, and some of those Male Chauvinists espoused their chauvinistic views in class and bullied the students that did not agree with them? Would you still be an "advocate of their academic freedom"? "

 MJ wrote on March 26, 2008 7:56 pm:
" I just bet when we all get to the pearly gates, the
first thing we'll be asked, "do you have a college education." I ain't found it in the Bible yet, but I'll
bet the college educated could find it!!!!! "

 Tod wrote on March 26, 2008 8:29 pm:
" Amber, Matt M and Kristen appear to be prime examples of students that have never been able to defend their beliefs. We get instead declarations that opposing points of view are welcome, if uneducated. My reading of these postings is diametrically opposed to those believing it's impossible to have an advanced degree and still harbour such pedestrian ethics. I don't believe it's impossible to hold a distinct view and still give a balanced presentation of social mores without causing a student or students to feel uncomfortable. These three people would have you believe a proper educational setting is one where your instructor as well as several classmates feel free to attack central tenets of your belief system. Fyi, I have a masters degree, and, yes, I felt the brunt of a liberal professors mighty power of the grade. My choice at the time was "make a fuss and perhaps become a pariah in my program" or "keep my head down, finish my program, and keep my family fed". I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone, even you three. "

 Gerard Harbison wrote on March 27, 2008 9:25 am:
" "Let's just get rid of all those messy "political" classes, like history, literature, philosophy, political science, and, all those "studies" classes have to go to."

Why are history, literature and philosophy necessarily political? Have the humanities so totally lost their intellectual bearings that the idea of objectivity is rejected out of hand?

"

 Objectivity??? wrote on March 27, 2008 3:36 pm:
" Gerard, objectivity is a myth. No human being, be they chemistry or history professor, is objective. You are missing the point of Leichner's essay. Every pedagogical decision is subjective, if not political. If you really want to make the classroom more open, get rid of grades. But can our rank addictive and hierarchical society deal with that? I doubt it. "

 Objectivity??? wrote on March 27, 2008 3:51 pm:
" Gerard, the humanities haven't lost their bearings, they are just being honest. Objectivity is a myth. No human being, be they history or chemistry teacher, can be objective because we are subjective animals. Moreover every decision that goes into teaching is a subjective decision. Even when all teaching is done by robots the material will be subjective because the robot is being programmed by subjective programmers who are inputting information created by other subjective human beings.

This is the point of the essay on which we are commenting. Every teaching decision is a selective process by which teachers choose to teach some thing over another thing. Now some of these decisions are overtly more political than others, but even the "objective" scientist is choosing material that reflects their ideological belief system. Make sense?
"

 None wrote on March 28, 2008 12:16 pm:
" I guess no one should be elected president then since there are many who strongly disagree with each candidate. Jody, what is your point, McCain for peace? Shouldn't we agree to start somewhere and with someone who has the qualities to inspire. We all know change is due, long over due. McCain represents no change. "

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